Remembering the Mighty Lion
by Bellatrix wannabe 89
Summary: Twenty years after the end of the second year; Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Neville all reminisce and pay their respects to the woman who shaped each of their lives in more ways then one. First Chapter is just the intro.
1. Introduction

JK Rowling owns everything.  
Takes place 20 years after the end of the second War  
As Ron and Hermione walked to the church, they could already see the line leading out of the church a block away. They could already tell it was going to be a crowded event. A solid mass of gold and red dawned the wizards and witches waiting ever so patient with an occasional black dress robe or Hogwarts robe thrown in, large banners bearing the massive Gryffindor lion hung from all the windows, and the Hogwarts Crest covered the massive double doors.  
They made there way to the back of the line, a good three miles from the church. Soon after, a familiar red head and man with glasses and a lightning bolt scar stood in back of them.  
"Ron, Hermione" Harry greeted with a nod, the event too somber for any bright or cheerful greeting.  
Ron returned the greeting with a sad smile while Hermione merely bit her bottom lip to stop the tears as she looked up at the church.  
"Come on now," Ron spoke to her softly, rubbing the small of her back, "she wouldn't want you to act like this. She would tell you to keep your chin up."  
Hermione simply sniffed and continued to hold back her tears, getting out a tissue from her purse.  
"Hey, guys, come on. Ron's right," Ginny admitted. "She wouldn't want us to act like this. She would want us to represent the nerve of Gryffindor with honor."  
"You're right," Hermione said, rather stuffily wiping the tears away. "I'm sorry, I just can't believe she's gone. I never thought-"  
She trailed off for the urge to cry again was much too strong.  
"None of us did," a somber familiar voice from behind them agreed.  
Harry turned around and found Neville, dressed in his Professors robes, grinning sadly at the party.  
"Hi, Neville," Ginny said. "Wheres Hannah?"  
"Watching Alice. But I agree with Hermione. She was always so strong, so tough, so brilliant, so..."  
"Lion like," Ron finished  
They all nodded in agreement.  
"She was amazing," Harry added, now holding back his own tears.  
The five lions all sighed heavily and spoke not another word as they made the way to the front of the church, to pay there last respects to the woman who had touched there's and so many other lives in so many ways.

Please Review, first up, Ron.


	2. Ron

I own no one but my own people.

It took nearly and hour and a half before then had gotten to the front of the line. The pews had been filled to their limit, and people who had already given their peace stood at the back of the church, waiting for the official ceremony to begin.

It was almost silent, no one dared to speak above a whisper. Crying and soft prayers could be heard throughout the large church, but other then that, the wizards and witches were much too somber to even pretend to make conversation with one another.

Ron was up first. With a deep breath, he walked towards the front of the church and gazed down into the coffin.

Mcgonnigall looked the same as he remembered her from his school days. Her gray hair tied into a tight bun, her face careworn and stern, yet filled with courage and determination all at once, and the square spectacles around her closed eyes that he often remembering glaring down at him when he and Harry would be fooling around in class, her wand clasped firmly in her hands.

He licked is lips, and cleared his throat of the tears he knew was sure to come.

"Hello, professor," he spoke softly, not wanting anyone else to intrude this last private conversation. "It's me, Ron. Ron Weasly. You know, the one who made your life accidental hell for seven years."

He chuckled and cleared his throat once more, feeling ashamed at having even the slightest feelings of happiness at this occasion.

"You haven't changed one bit. Besides the fact you're, you know."

He looked down at the red carpet as tears came to his eyes.

"You know I," he looked back at her again, "I don't think I ever annoyed any other teacher then you. Besides Snape of course, but, that's a different matter. He was a _Slytherin_ after all," speaking as if that explained everything, and he knew if she had been alive, she would glare at him, but would be silently agreeing.

He sniffed then let out another soft laugh, "You know I remember the time that you caught me and Lavender in your class room at night. Dear god, I thought you were gonna beat me with a stick. But nope, you just told us to get back to bed. 'Course we didn't go back to bed, but, that's besides the point.

But anyway, the next day, you called me in to your office, and I thought detention for sure, but you had a plate of cookies and tea and asked me to sit down.

Tears gathered in his blue eyes once more. "You told me that you found Hermione crying in that exact same room a few nights earlier , and she said that it was because she had told you that 'she fell in love with one of her best friends, and he was too blind to see it', "

Ron shook his head at his own childhood foolishness. Then you, you asked me if I was really dating Lavender for feelings of love and attraction, or simply for superficial reasons. Then you told me that I WAS blind for not seeing how much this was hurting Hermione. You said you knew how much I secretly cared for her, and that it would do each of us a favor if I would just break up with her and finally be with the one I loved.

I stormed out," he choked out, his voice constrained with tears. "I told you I didn't need you butting into my life, that you didn't understand anything about me or Lavender and Hermione."

He looked back at Hermione who was no being silently comforted by Harry. "I never told you thank you. You made me see that I really was blind, that we were meant to be together. That day was the day that me and her began to drift apart. And you could see it too in class. And every time me and Lavender moved further and further away and me and Hermione sat closer, that tiny smile you always hid would get a little bit bigger. You gave me the woman of my dream and the two things I never thought possible. Hugo Author and Rose Minerva. Hermione was dedicated to having that for her name. In all honesty, I never knew why she was so determined on having it, but I know now. Because you brought her to life, in essence."

He let himself smile at the thought of Hugo and Rose. "You would of had fun with Hugo. Acts exactly like his uncle Fred and George. Rosy, well, as you know she acts just like her mother, so not too many detention slips you've had to fill out."

He bit his lip once more as tears leaked out of his eyes. "I'm not gonna be able to explain to him how much he's missed out by never meeting you, by never getting the original glare that his mother has nearly perfected, but never getting in trouble or getting a detention from you. Good god, I'm almost angry at myself for not having him one year earlier. Then at least he could of had the pleasure of being taught by you for one year."

Ron placed a hand over hers, and didn't shudder away at the cold, lifeless feeling in them, and instead he took a shudder of a breath for fear of crying.

"Thank you," he whispered softly, "for everything. For my wife, my children... everything that means anything to me now is because of you, and I will forever be grateful."

With the sobs finally winning, he gave a short bow before walking away from the coffin and headed towards the back of the church, the tears stinging his eyes.

Please review. Next up, Hermione.


	3. Hermione

I own no one but my own people

Hermione watched Ron walk to the back of the church, his head hung down. She thought she might have seen a tear stream down his fac, even fro ma distance.

With a deep breath, she walked up to the coffin, her hands shaking. She held them together but that didn't seem to help any.

"He... hello, professor," she mumbled, not being able to look inside the casket, and instead focused on the red carpet on the floor.

"I've... I've never actually been to one of these before. I mean, I went to Dumbledores, Fred, Tonks, and Lupins funeral, but never to a wake. To tell that person how much I miss them, and how I wish they'd never left."

Her voice began to become constricted, tears welled up in her eyes.

"I do miss you though... a lot. The moment I heard about your death in the paper, I didn't know what to do. You were always so strong, so brilliant, so..." words seemed to fail the witch, "just everything I wish I could have been .

I mean yes, people have told me I'm the brightest witch of my age, but not like you. Book smarts are nothing when you don't know how to read people like you did."

She cleared her throat and grabbed a tissue form her handbag and dabbed her wet eyes, still looking down at the carpet, unable to peer upon the body. "I mean, I still remember in our third year when I handed over Harrys firebolt to you. Ron was so angry with me, I think he was even more angrier then Harry was during the whole ordeal. I went to you, begging to take the broom stick back to give to them so that Ron would at least start talking to me again. I hated when he wasn't talking to me.

You said that I had done the right thing, that they would forgive me when the time came for Harry to get it back."

She let out a sad laugh which covered up a sob. "I never understood boys and their obsession with Quidditch. Of course you probably would have taken ten points from me just for even thinking that, but I never really got the hang of it. But I said that I couldn't deal with him forgiving me in the future, and that I wanted him to forgive me now.

I started crying, and you took me to your office and asked why I so desperately sought Rons forgiveness and approval. I said that I didn't know why, I just needed him not to be mad at me anymore, that it felt like a thousand pound weight was crushing me every time he walked past and didn't speak to me."

Hermione let out a sob and bit her lip. It took a few moments before she could continue speaking. "You actually smiled, the first time I ever saw you truly smile. Then you, you told me not to worry, that Ron would forgive me, and that he and I would eventually realize what we both felt one day.

I asked you what you meant, and you just smiled and said you had a class in a few minutes and not to worry any more.

It took me almost three years to figure out what you meant by that, that the reason I wanted him to forgive me so bad was because I loved him, and I couldn't stand the thought of him hating me."

Hermione finally looked up from the floor into the coffin and let out another sob.

"I never realized, ho, how truly idiotic I was, not seeing that I loved him. I still don't know to this day how you managed to see it back then wh, when we both couldn't. Thank you, Minerva. Thank you for everything."

She let out a sob and hurried away from the coffin, still dabbing her eyes with the handkerchief.

Please Review. Next up, Ginny!


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